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Need new ink-efficient printer.

Hi guys,

This is not a cop-out to me doing my own research but I am just wondering what your thoughts might be. My Epson Photo 825 recently died on me.

I am aware of all of the problems Epsons have with clogged heads. I know HP builds their heads into the cartridges (which is nice) but I just cannot justify going with HP when their ink costs $40-60 to replace the cartridges. I am planning on doing a lot of printing...

I am starting a business where I will be printing quite a few full color pages (brochures, CD labels, etc), probably 15-20 full-color, full-page prints a week. This is why I am leaning toward Epson or maybe Canon.

In the past I have bought all my ink from printpal.com. It is generic ink but I have never had a single problem with it and it's very inexpensive for Epson and Canon ink. There is very little savings with HP ink.

I have never used a canon but have heard a lot about the pixma printers. I don't know anything about their ink usage though.

I would be interested in a printer that has individual inks for each color (CMY and Black) but some of the HPs have 6 cartridges... thatís overkill, it seems, to have to keep all of those stocked on your shelf. 3 individual color cartridges would not be bad because I will be printing a lot and may use one color more often than another, in which case it would be more cost-effective (I think) to replace just that one single color instead of the entire cartridge... but then again, a single individual color cartridge usually costs close to the price of a multi-color cartridge.

Under $100. I know this is low... can I get what I am looking for, for this price? I would be willing to buy refurbished from Epson or even new on ebay.

My biggest concern is the ink-usage. Everything I have read has led me to believe that Epson uses ink more sparingly than HP. Is this true? Because I will be printing so much with it I would rather a printer that has very inexpensive cartridges than an inexpensive printer.

epson isnt considerd an efficient brand for ink usage nor is their prices that great. furthermore, their base models like the R200 is complete junk. i really dislike epson budget printers.

Canon on the other hand is great. efficient ink usage and low cost ink. Look for the pixma ip5000, by far the best bang for the buck in your range. it is incredibly fast, and the smallest dot size available in inkjets. you can buy new from amazon for $140 so im sure you can find it somewhere close to a hundred. it also has far better cd printing functions, and the american models can print on cd's by unlocking the printer.

btw, the ip5200 is the newer model, yet it uses chipped carts, so no using cheap replacements. the ip5000 uses widely common carts.

Laser printers have really dropped in price over the last couple of years. Have you thought of a colour laser? They're supposed to pay off for volume printing.

Thank, I have looked into color laser. They are very inexpensive compared to a few years ago and the price per print is very good, but I still don't think I will be doing enough to actually make it worth the machine (first of all) then each color cartridge.

Look for the pixma ip5000, by far the best bang for the buck in your range. it is incredibly fast, and the smallest dot size available in inkjets. you can buy new from amazon for $140 so im sure you can find it somewhere close to a hundred.

I have been eying the Pixmas but there are so many that I wasn't sure where to start. Having looked at the ip5000 I am thinking about going with it. One draw back is that if I am spending $150 (and using the desk space) it would be nice to have a scanner built in...

I have not been able to find it cheaper than $140 so I'm thinking if I go with this I'll have to pay that.

I also have not heard to much about Canons getting clogged heads. Does this not happen as much as Epsons?

I am aware of all of the problems Epsons have with clogged heads. I know HP builds their heads into the cartridges (which is nice) but I just cannot justify going with HP when their ink costs $40-60 to replace the cartridges. I am planning on doing a lot of printing...

I am starting a business where I will be printing quite a few full color pages (brochures, CD labels, etc), probably 15-20 full-color, full-page prints a week.

A Color Laser Printer is what you really need.

If you are going to be doing that kind of printing you will be buying a lot of ink for any ink jet printer.

In any case you will find out that a Laser printer will save you money in the long run.

well, i would suppose for a business a laser printer would be better. but mind that you can buy constant ink systems for inkjets that will rival the per-page price of laser. also, the ip5000 has outstanding quality. surely a budget laser will not be able to compare to it when dealing with full color photos. You can also just replace the whole set of ink for $15 complete with non-oem carts. with canons the generic ink is the same as the oem for the most part, i cant tell a difference.

well, i would suppose for a business a laser printer would be better. but mind that you can buy constant ink systems for inkjets that will rival the per-page price of laser. also, the ip5000 has outstanding quality. surely a budget laser will not be able to compare to it when dealing with full color photos. You can also just replace the whole set of ink for $15 complete with non-oem carts. with canons the generic ink is the same as the oem for the most part, i cant tell a difference.

I wasn't talking about a budget Color Laser printer.

But then for a business everything is a write off so maybe getting a good Laser Printer as a investment would be a good thing to do.

Printing that much High Quality in Color he will be going through Ink like crazy in a Ink Jet.

I have 3 printers on my network here at the house, all HP and all Ink Jet.

Thanks for all your help so far. I am still leaning more toward ink jet just for the fact that it's cheaper up-front. I have looked at several laser printers though, and found that Brother seems to be the best for how many pages I would get out of a cartridge.

Jankerson, do you have any recommendations I should be looking at? Keep in mind that this is a videography business and so the printing is just for brochures and marketing material (not a printing business by any means). Also be aware that it is just starting and I will not be a full-time job till late fall (I am slowly getting into my own business rather than jumping in full speed). I will not have any tax write-offs with it either because there is very little income with the first few months (it's all going toward the filming equipment). My other concern is that for a laser printer to pay off I would need to be using it for quite some time, what is the average lifespan of a laser printer (or is there an average?).

Krupted, where do you buy your non-oem ink? I've always been happy with Printpal. Also, do constant-ink-systems really work? I've always been very skeptical about them but have never tried (nor heard of anyone who has tried one).

Also be aware that it is just starting and I will not be a full-time job till late fall (I am slowly getting into my own business rather than jumping in full speed).

In that case go for an Ink Jet for now and once things pick up then look at Laser.

As far as brands go I have always had the best luck with HP printers.

You do know that the reason the Ink costs a little more for HP Printers is because the Print Head is built into the Ink Cartridge? What that means is that everytime you change Ink you have a new Print head.

You do know that the reason the Ink costs a little more for HP Printers is because the Print Head is built into the Ink Cartridge? What that means is that everytime you change Ink you have a new Print head.

Yeah, that's what I like (and don't like) about them. They don't clog the way Epsons do but they cost more (for the heads). I was trying to figure out if having new heads would be better for more printing or if one head would be ok because it would constantly used and never (for more than a week at least) be sitting idle. I would, of course, turn off the printer everytime it's idle.

I have 3 printers on my network here at the house, all HP and all Ink Jet.

2 Deskjets:

5650 and 5740

One Officejet 7410 All in one. (Network Printer)

He was seeking to spend less then $140, i believe we are talking about budget stuff here.

and those would easily be the worst choices he could make when considering cost. HP has always had the lead in raping consumers on ink, maybe only topped by lexmark. By contrast, canon is at the other end being the cheapest. but its not only cost, the quality of canons (even budget) compare very similarly to HP. the quality of prints and quality of build.

Speaking of printheads, Canon does it like epson, its built onto the printer, yet you can remove the head itself very easily for cleaning or repair. this way you dont need to replace inkheads when not needed, and you can use generic carts without worrying about poor print results.

Also, he only stated he was printing at max 20 full page color prints a week. that isnt a lot and the ip5000 can print a full color page at maximun quality in under a minute.

As for the ink, im trying right now *EDIT: its not atlanta inkjet, i ment atlanticinkjet.com . The former seems to be a cheap knockoff, it tricked me at least. they (atlantic!) seem that they have a high standard of ink quality. their prices are a little more then the cheapest ones ive seen, but im still only paying $15 to replace a whole set black+color. even cheaper if you buy bulk of course too.

I have noticed this, the ip5000 is going for more then the ip5200. there is only one reason, the 5200's ink is electronically chipped so it will cost more for the ink. I think people are frantically buying out the rest of the ip5000's and they should be. if you can still get it for close to a hundred you might want to snag it.

And finally, just to really kill off the HP idea ( ) im going to throw in canon's cd-printing function. CD labels are documented and well known to cause problems with cd's and dvd's. nobody should ever put any sort of adheasive on your cd's for any reason, it will screw them up. Solution, buy printable cd's and use canon printers for an even better quality result without fear of losing data.

He was seeking to spend less then $140, i believe we are talking about budget stuff here.

Hmmmm....

The HP DJ 5740 is $79 @ Newegg right now.

The DJ 5650 was less than that when I got it @ Newegg.

I just threw in my Network printer as I was listing my printers I personally use, it's $400, but an All in One (Printer, Copier, Scanner, Fax Machine) with Wireless and Hard Wire Network Connections and Stand alone Photo Printing from Memory cards etc.

I personally have used HP printers and Canon, Lexmark, Brother and Epson.

I can tell you this, I have less problems over all with HP than the others, except for a PSC once that was a piece of junk, but that was free so it really didn't matter.

I also don't think they really use anymore Ink than the others I have used over the years either from what I have seen.

i hope you didnt mean to include lexmark in any comparison with really any other brand. just plain horrible stuff, i dont think they make lexmark anymore right?

in any case, i think the origonal poster should forget any other brand beside hp and canon although i still find it hard to see why hp is so inviting. cost of ink per page is more, theyre not as fast, and they dont print on cd's. i mean if im missing something i would like to know. im only stating facts here, i didnt even like canon until i did some research and actually used some.

i hope you didnt mean to include lexmark in any comparison with really any other brand. just plain horrible stuff, i dont think they make lexmark anymore right?

in any case, i think the origonal poster should forget any other brand beside hp and canon although i still find it hard to see why hp is so inviting. cost of ink per page is more, theyre not as fast, and they dont print on cd's. i mean if im missing something i would like to know. im only stating facts here, i didnt even like canon until i did some research and actually used some.

If CD Printing is important than the field is narrowed to exclude HP.

What do you mean HP printers are not fast? I am lost on that one....

The older ones were really slow, but the newer ones are fast, like in the last 5 years or so.